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Namah Archetypal Psychology

Renaissance. Some of these movements are: than one at a time. When a person is seen
enchantivism — story-telling to reconnect as a composite of these super-beings many
with one’s soul; animism — seeing the world possibilities open up for his growth. Let us dive
endowed with Life; primitivism — reclaiming deeper into Archetypal Psychology, because I
one’s childlike curiosity of supernatural beings. feel it is a method to liberate ourselves from
These people look back at the golden age of the mundane and touch the numinous within.
literature, of spiritual efflorescence, pore
over wisdom texts. They rediscover land- Feeling-tone of Archetypal Psychology
based technologies that were eco-friendly
and saw the Earth and others as part of the Archetypal Psychology accepts supernatural
same system. They realise that one person’s experiences and ensouls inanimate things. It
happiness is dependent on everybody else’s. discards traditional psychoanalysis, labelling of
This truth was common knowledge in primitive diseases or even seeing diseases as anomalies.
societies. It did not have to be imposed with It says pathologies are the calls of your soul,
‘Love Thy Neighbour’ commandments. There asking you to pay attention, to give them the
were justice systems that regulated infractions. gift of empathic listening (2). If you mistrusted
The Selfish Gene was the anomaly. The path conventional dream analysis where they were
of Love that I would like to explore here is interpreted by statistical comparison of dreams
Archetypal Psychology. and symbols were assigned to images, you
would feel at ease in this realm where dreams
Archetypal Psychology are liberated from interpretation. Here, your
whole being is liberated from any sort of
James Hillman (1926-2011), was one of the founders judgement. Archetypal psychology opens
of Archetypal Psychology. Hillman, an American new windows in your being. The air that drifts
psychologist, started off as a student of Carl G. in is rich with earthy tinges, the juicy smell of
Jung, who was himself a student of Freud in his the soul, the mellifluous odour of wounded
early days. Each psychologist has taken a step grass. In this place you can commune with
closer to the supernatural and the subliminal. the archetypal gods and see them range freely
They use their own terminologies, different within you. You can reckon with your soul
from the ones I just used and they may even and map it out on paper. You can sit with
differ in detail. But the essential movement your dream as with a friend and chat with
remains — that of opening up the field of it. All these processes are like running in an
psychology to greater possibilities. Hillman’s unbounded prairie and breathing in fresh air.
school of thought is called Archetypal If it starts raining or snowing, you let them
Psychology because he describes humans drench you and you soak in their essence.
as embodiments of super-hero archetypes.
Given his upbringing, he uses Greek Gods The study of Archetypal Psychology is not
as these archetypes. People in India can relate a mental game, but a weaving of soul-
to the archetypes of Rama, Krishna, Karna, stories. Archetypal psychology uses images
Arjuna and so on. Every culture has its and imagination as the anvil on which base
mythologies replete with archetypes that metal is beaten into soul-stuff. Heating metal,
manifest in a human being, sometimes more liquefying it, hammering it into shape all

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